of the coiled strength of her companions. They were a team, communicating in gestures and eye movements. She had engaged in coaching sessions with the Aras guards, and her training had been rigorous and demanding. Even so, she sensed something in this group went beyond her experiences. She had always felt there was an element missing from her instruction, a higher level that remained stubbornly out of her reach. Now she was witnessing it, and it had nothing to do with experience or skill. It was about trust. These men knew they could count on each other, no matter what.
They avoided the main staircase, heading instead for a door marked Réservé au personnel. Ged took the lead as they went down the stairs. Lidi was behind him with Khan next and Diablo at the rear. When they reached the second floor, a man was waiting for them. Although Lidi tensed for action, she recognized him. He was the guy who had tried to stop her from getting to Ged when she climbed into the hotel. She recalled that just after she had broken free of his grasp and kicked him, Ged had called him Rick.
Rick’s eyes flickered briefly to her face and he rubbed his chest reminiscently, but he gave no other sign that he knew her.
“Did you get a plan of the first floor?” Ged spoke in a low voice.
“Yeah. There is a storage room behind the kitchens. It has no windows, so no one can see in, and Torque has shut down the security cameras. If you can get these guys in there, you will be out of sight of the rest of the hotel. There is also an exit that leads to a delivery area, so I can bring a vehicle to the door and...uh, dispose of any evidence.”
Ged placed a hand on his shoulder. “Good work. I need you to direct us to this room and then get the hell out of the way. This will be messy.”
Lidi understood what he meant. His friend was a human and he didn’t want him caught up in the middle of a shifter fight. She knew her world was unique. Callistoya was inhabited by bear shifters, and diversity had barely touched their magical realm. It was only since her escape that she had encountered humans. Of course, since she was half-human herself, their ways, although occasionally unusual, weren’t completely strange to her. The biggest difference was when it came to combat. Then, of course, a human didn’t stand a chance against a shifter.
Rick accompanied them down the remaining stairs. As they drew closer to the lobby, they could hear noises. It sounded like the intruders were trying everything they could to gain access to the upper floors.
“They haven’t figured out yet that the system has been overridden,” Diablo murmured. “The locks have been disabled, and they could just walk through.”
“What are they saying?” Khan asked. “It sounds like they’re speaking Russian.”
Lidi turned to look at Ged, the only other person who could understand what the men were saying. She saw his face tighten with anger as he listened to the furious comments of Vasily’s men.
“Close,” Ged said. “It’s the language of Callistoya, their homeland. They’re know Lidi is here and they’re trying to find a way to get to her.” He gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”
They stepped into the foyer together and Lidi took a moment to view the damage. It looked like a hurricane had blown through the building. Furniture had been overturned and ripped apart as though a child had thrown a tantrum and destroyed its dollhouse. Ruined light fixtures dangled from the vaulted ceiling, and the doors on one of the elevators were hanging half-off. As they moved stealthily toward them, two of the intruders were using a table as a battering ram, attempting to pound their way into a room that Lidi guessed must be the manager’s office.
Close to the entrance, two figures lay on the floor, their uniforms soaked with blood. Lidi couldn’t see any signs of life from either of them. Nearby, a woman was curled in a fetal position with her hands over her head.
Ged moved forward, drawing the attention of the intruders. All four of them turned their way. One man lunged toward Lidi, his hand reaching for her arm, but Ged stepped between them.
“Touch her and you die.” There was no doubt about it. Ged meant what he said.
The other man’s lips drew back in a snarl. “She is the reason we are here. She is an escaped criminal and our orders are to return her to justice.”
“On whose authority?”
“I am Pyotr. I act on behalf of King Vasily of Callistoya.”
Ged drew himself up to his full, impressive height. “You have been misinformed, my friend. There is only one king of Callistoya...and you’re looking at him.”
There is only one king of Callistoya and you’re looking at him.
As he spoke the words, Ged’s well-laid schemes came crashing down around him. As he faced Pyotr and Vasily’s other thugs, he knew the truth. He couldn’t stay away. The crown of Callistoya belonged to him, and no matter what he had to do, he would return and find a way to wrest it from Vasily so he could wear it with pride.
He had a moment or two for that thought to register before Pyotr shifted. Lightning fast, Ged gave a signal to his companions. There were a lot of myths around shifting, many of them originating in the books and movies of human culture. It wasn’t a long, protracted and painful process. Shifting was as natural as breathing. It was about reaching deep inside and finding the inner animal, then relaxing into those memories and muscles. For Ged, it was a split second in which he closed his eyes as a human and opened them as a huge Callistoyan bear. Shrugging aside the remnants of the clothing he hadn’t had time to remove, he rose onto his hind legs.
In the wild, bears avoided fighting. Armed with tremendous strength, large claws and teeth like knives, they were wise enough to know they could inflict severe injuries on each other.
To avoid physical conflict, bears used vocalization and posturing to demonstrate their dominance and intimidate an opponent. This allowed them to establish a hierarchy within which they could interact without violence. A bear’s place in the social structure was based on its size, strength, age and disposition.
As the two groups faced each other, it was apparent Ged had the advantage. He was the alpha, towering over the others, his superiority obvious. They should have bowed before him. But this wasn’t a forest and they weren’t fighting over a mate, or a kill. They were shifters, not wild bears. They retained an element of their human senses even in their bear form, and Vasily’s men were here on a mission—one that didn’t allow them to back down.
Even Lidi, who should have been subordinate to each of the males present, had an agenda that suppressed her bear instincts. Instead of signaling her subservience, her stance was combative. Standing tall, with her head held high and her golden eyes alert, she was the most beautiful sight Ged had ever seen.
Although there was nothing he’d rather do more than spend time admiring Lidi, either in human or bear form, there were more urgent matters to take care of right now. If his opponents were surprised to be faced with a tiger and a panther as well as two bears, they didn’t show it. As they charged forward, it was clear they were used to fighting as a unit.
Bring it on.
The lobby was filled with the sounds of claws scrabbling on marble, deep bear grunts and harsher cat cries as solid, muscular bodies connected. Ged squared up to Pyotr. His aim, as always in a bear fight, was to bring his adversary down. Once a bear was on the ground, it was easily defeated. Using his superior height to his advantage, he lunged, striking out with his huge claws. The blow caught Pyotr behind his ear, slicing through thick fur and connecting with flesh.
Pyotr staggered back but retaliated with a smack to the side of Ged’s head that made his ears ring. It shouldn’t have happened. Pyotr was an inferior opponent, but Ged’s attention was divided between his own struggle and what was going on with Lidi. His protective instincts were overriding his self-preservation, placing him in unnecessary danger.
What